


Third Law

by wordpunk



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 14:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2273646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordpunk/pseuds/wordpunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Beth Childs is an air marshal chasing down the dubious Manning twins. She finds more than just nosy passengers in suspiciously close quarters when Alison Hendrix catches on to the dangers in the sky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Third Law

Officer Childs slouches behind two or three other passengers waiting to board Canadian Air flight 1114, furiously chewing her gum. The spry air marshal had to chase the Manning twins halfway across America before catching wind of them, again, across the border.

An attaché and Michael Kors bag full of gym clothes - nothing too personal, easy to pass through security – are both slung over her right shoulder. It helped that Beth had known one of the TSA officers working today.

“Well, good morning to you, dipshit,” she muttered earlier, flashing a crooked grin and presenting her official identifications.

“Elizabeth,” said the goateed man. His polished name tag reflected dull, fluorescent lighting into Beth's eyes. She cringed at her full first name. “Good to see you working.”

“Ah, that’s right. You’ve gotta be all formal and shit.” She re-shouldered her bag and passed by the man in bright blue. “Have a safe day, Arthur!” Beth pulled an outrageously happy face, removing her belt and shoes.

“Stay out of trouble,” he called after her, resulting in a ‘thumbs up’ thrust from the officer now inside the full-body scanner.

When Beth finally reached the gate and continued down the air bridge, she began to sense the familiar carbon stuffiness of the plane’s cabin.

Luckily, she was one of the first to board, to scan the area for any initial oddities, then to profile each and every passenger.

She sighed, heading toward the rear of the craft, just behind the wing. When she took her seat on the aisle, only two other fliers were present: a tiny woman with a fountain of terribly dyed blonde hair, already fast asleep against the seat in front of her, and a geeky looking grad student filing through a stack of papers about as high as the dreads piled on her head.

 _Great bunch, so far;_ Beth thought, making a restrained face, _Awesome mess of people_.

Another woman sauntered into the first class area, whose appearance could’ve shaved the five o’clock shadow off their pilot Captain Dierden’s face.

Rachel Duncan’s dossier had been slid in between the twins’– both to keep the massive files from running together, and because miss Duncan had a security clearance and warning of her own. Frequent traveler, recently in Taiwan, Korea, and Amsterdam, with a penchant for booking flights steered only by Mr. Dierden.

Duncan and Sarah Manning had caused the disturbance in Toronto, while attending a DYAD fundraiser, placing the twins back on international radar.

The filing of passengers continued, a tall, bald man with a creepy smile that ended up sitting next to the geek. Repeatedly, he tried to chat about a politely mentioned thesis paper, but the woman seemed to have quite a mouth on her. Beth was both impressed and annoyed. If she’s that smart, man, leave her alone or she’ll find some godawful way to use the SkyMall as a dartgun. Oh, God, I’ve just classified magazines as a new hazardous material.

Beth tried hard to acknowledge each person with an expression that said “tourist” not “terrorist”.

She finally gained a neighbor when a woman anxiously playing with the zipper on her purse boarded. She wore a sweet color of lipstick and tight yoga pants.

 _Not a threat,_ Beth cased, _just fear of flying. Good taste in warm clothes. My foot’s already about to freeze the fuck off from these floor vents._ The woman looked at the labels above Beth’s aisle and gave the officer a tiny smile.

“May I get to the window seat, please?”

“Oh, sure.” Beth rose to let her pass. The woman brushed lightly by and sat down instantly buckling herself in.

“Good day to fly,” Beth offered. “Clear skies.”

“That’s nice,” came a faint reply.

“I’m Beth, by the way.”  _Come on, lady. Loosen up._

“Oh, um, Alison,” she seemed hesitant to offer.

A few moments of silence passed before Beth took back to scanning the passengers. A bigger guy with his shirt tucked into his sweatpants struggled past carrying a golf bag. The two women reacted simultaneously.

“Yikes,” the officer muttered.

“Mercy. Is that even legal?”

“Only if he bought a ticket for the gopher.” Beth cracked sideways at the woman. Alison had to bury her face in the safety regulations card so as to not embarrass herself.

The plane was filling up fast.

**Author's Note:**

> Many more expanded relationships and characters to come! Just wanted to get this off the ground. =)


End file.
